Health Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices of the Deaf Population in Greater New Orleans—A Pilot Study

An attempt to assess the level of health knowledge, attitudes and practices of a deaf population is described. A sample from the greater New Orleans area was studied to determine (1) how much they know about health and the health care delivery system, (2) how often they use the available resources,...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:American annals of the deaf (Washington, D.C. 1886) D.C. 1886), 1978-12, Vol.123 (8), p.960-967
Main Authors: Lass, Linda G., Franklin, Robert R., Bertrand, William E., Baker, Jeffrey
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adult
Attitude to Health
Deafness
Deafness - psychology
Delivery of Health Care
Female
Health care delivery
Health Resources - utilization
Health Services Needs and Demand
Humans
Language translation
Louisiana
Male
Medical practice
Middle Aged
Patient care
Physicians
Pilot Projects
Questionnaires
Sign languages
Tropical medicine
Written communication
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Summary:An attempt to assess the level of health knowledge, attitudes and practices of a deaf population is described. A sample from the greater New Orleans area was studied to determine (1) how much they know about health and the health care delivery system, (2) how often they use the available resources, and (3) what, if any barriers prevent them from receiving the best possible medical care. A questionnaire containing 44 questions, the majority of which were in sign language, was administered to 36 subjects. Results indicated that in general the population studied knew how and where to get medical care and was satisfied with the services they received. The most serious problem was perceived to be communication as certain aspects of medical care were not well understood. The authors feel that a representative segment of the population may not have been tapped as subjects were located via their affiliation with established programs for the deaf in the greater New Orleans area. This population was used because of its accessibility for this pilot study, but is thought to be younger and better educated than a truly random sample. The following recommendations were suggested by this pilot study: (1) Increase the data base used in this study (using random sample). (2) Make further efforts to increase open communication between the deaf community and the medical profession in greater New Orleans.
ISSN:0002-726X
1543-0375